Private cars on St Stephens Street in Norwich PHOTO BY SIMON FINLAY
Graphic: Major changes to road layouts in Norwich city centre given the go-ahead
Dan Grimmer
Friday, March 22, 2013
10:59 AM
An ambitious scheme which will transform the way traffic uses Norwich city centre, banning motorists from St Stephens Street, has been given the go-ahead.
St StephensThe ‘Transport for Norwich’ scheme has been trumpeted by council bosses as a way to ease congestion in the centre of Norwich.
It includes making Chapel Field North two-way and preventing general traffic from using St Stephens Street and part of Surrey Street.
Officers say that will improve journey times, reliability and punctuality for buses, while making life easier for pedestrians in places such as Rampant Horse Street.
But the proposals were vigorously opposed by campaigners who were not happy with the changes to Chapel Field North.
They raised concerns over pollution, safety, an increase in HGV and bus numbers and the impact on Chapelfield Gardens.
At a meeting last month, where the scheme was due to be approved, councillors agreed to defer their decision so alternative plans put forward by campaigners could be considered and officers could respond to claims that the figures used to justify the changes were inaccurate.
However, at today’s meeting of the Norwich Highways Agency Committee, councillors decided to push ahead with the original proposals, after hearing from officers that, in their view, the alternative plans did not stack up.
Chairman Tony Adams said he was against the Chapel Field North proposals and in favour of the St Stephens scheme and wanted to split the vote.
But officers advised him against that approach, and the vote was taken on the whole scheme.
The committee has four voting members and the scheme was agreed by three votes to one.
Last year, highways bosses successfully bid for £2.6m from the government after submitting a Better Bus Area bid. That money was to pay for a package of measures to speed up buses and one of the key things council bosses said was needed to do that was to stop the estimated 3,000 cars a day which use St Stephens Street.
Buses, taxis, coaches, bicycles and emergency vehicles will still be able to head down the street, but cars wanting to get across the city centre will instead have to head down Queens Road to All Saints Green and then travel down Westlegate to rejoin Red Lion Street.
Traffic heading down Westlegate will no longer be able to cross into Rampant Horse Street, in front of Marks and Spencer and Debenhams, but instead forced to turn right.
Buses will also be able to travel two ways down Chapel Field North, with cars heading into the city from that direction only able to get as far as the car park next to The Assembly House.
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40 comments
I would also like Westlegate to be pedestrianised - this would be a massive improvement to the area!
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Lynda Edwards
Sunday, March 24, 2013
I personally am cheering about this long-awaited solution to an old problem being sorted! I am so fed-up with waiting in a bus in St Stephens to let us off when it is waiting for traffic coming from Westlegate to stop going into Rampant Horse Street! Castle Meadow is much better now private cars are not allowed through. After all drivers have to be pedestrians at times! It is dreadful the Councils have been ignoring the majority of the public using the streets - and taking notice of the road lobby wanting to clog up our city streets with their polluting vehicles! I also want to be home from the city in a hurry but have to wait in a bus in queues of private cars. If you don't like the buses why not ask for an improvement to the deteriorating bus services instead?
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Lynda Edwards
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Note the photograph of St Stephens at the top of this article. Replace the private cars with more double decker buses or a couple of lorries. Better? Safer? Quicker?
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iclone-2000
Friday, March 22, 2013
Pedestrianisation? I think I'm missing something here. How is turning St Stephens into a giant bus station and taxi rank going to help pedestrians? Isn't Castle Meadow huge enough? As others are saying, there are always a sea of buses gridlocking St Stephens. Not cars. It will be no safer after the scheme starts than it is now. Oh, and pedestrians. When you do stroll along between the buses, please also beware of taxis making constant unlawful U-turns !
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iclone-2000
Friday, March 22, 2013
Pedestrianisation? I think I'm missing something here. How is turning St Stephens into a giant bus station and taxi rank going to help pedestrians? Isn't Castle Meadow huge enough? As others are saying, there are always a sea of buses gridlocking St Stephens. Not cars. It will be no safer after the scheme starts than it is now. Oh, and pedestrians. When you do stroll along between the buses, please also beware of taxis making constant unlawful U-turns !
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iclone-2000
Friday, March 22, 2013
When are the local elections? Mind, we'll only get one load of p++++++s!
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biglingers
Friday, March 22, 2013
Why can't they just open up Castle Meadow. You could then cut down St Stephens and straight through the City.
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Andy T
Friday, March 22, 2013
Before cars the city was full of horses, you need transport to get trade. Thats how and why townscitys are formed on trade, no trade no city.
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ITSTEAPOT
Friday, March 22, 2013
This goes to show yet again councillors who cant drive are making plans for those of us who can. Why put car parks in the city centre if we are not allowed to park in them. If Norwich City Council think for 1 minute Im going to get the bus into the city think again. Why would i want to pay £6 return for less than 2 hours in the city. The best people to talk to about traffic flow are bus drivers and taxi drivers. I just wonder which Councillor has moved into that area and dont want traffic outside their front door.
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PINKDEADHUNTER
Friday, March 22, 2013
WELL DONE , you must be so proud ,once again nrwich city council have come up with an idea , move traffic from one area and put it in another area , why dont you all go down to the beach and bliuld sand castles , oh ya ,you cant get out of the city ! N C C no coucillors care
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fuwbs
Friday, March 22, 2013
Carol B asks why not use the perfectly good bus station. The problem remains that is is not anywhere near a good bus station. It is not safe for pedestrians, it does not utilise the space at all well and it was not allocated all the space which could have been used from the former site. If it had been built like the one at Hull Paragon it might just have coped . As for more traffic along All Saints I am astonished-Norwich councils usual disregard for the old buildings in the city. Limiting traffic down St Stephens is not a bad idea, but the way the bus companies have been allowed to turn the street and Castle Meadow into a substitute for a convenient bus interchange is the cause of all the problems.
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Daisy Roots
Friday, March 22, 2013
Did you notice the 20MPH speed limit? For full details of the thoughts behind the now approved changes see http:www.norwich.gov.ukCommitteeMeetingsNorwich%20highways%20agencyDocument%20Library68REPNHAC9AppendedReportForInformation20130321.pdf
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L.Deene
Friday, March 22, 2013
three people push througha traffic plan(?), the Kremlin would be proud of them! Just about summarises planning in this City.Well said Andy T - mind, I have been saying this and getting laughed at.
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biglingers
Friday, March 22, 2013
I don't have a problem with St Stephens being pedestrianised, but they should do it properly as in other towns and make that emergency vehicle access only. There's a perfectly good bus station next door, so why can't they all go there? They could use the little 'drop off' parking area on Queens Road as a taxi rank, as they did in the 'old days'. I do think they need to look at the one way system though. These changes can only create a serious bottleneck effect in Westlegate, especially if Castle Meadow remains closed to normal traffic. It's bad enough now, and will be much worse with all the extra traffic being pushed through from Queens Road. I drive up Rose Lane then around to All Saints Green every night as that's the only way through the one way system and out of the city from the car park I use daily, so I do know what it's like. And the reason I drive to and from work is because it's cheaper for me to do that and pay less than £20.00 a week for parking fees, than to use public transport and pay over £35 for bus fares, and have the inconvenience of waiting around in all weathers when they don't run on time or at all!!
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Carol Bolton
Thursday, March 21, 2013
If it works nothing more will be heard, if it doesn't well another waste of money by City & County. All restrictions or traffic orders must be self enforcing otherwise it will be ignored. Look at Duke StreetColegate. Tun into Premier Inn car park and then exit into Colegate. No one there to enforce the no entry. Taxi's are the worse culprits. I even saw a whte van turn right directly into Colegate. You couldn't make it up.
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NchNthMan
Thursday, March 21, 2013
So the dogs breakfast of norwich traffic planning took another nosedive.There is nothing so bad that councils cannot make worse,like the messing about with Dereham road,but closing St Stephens is a masterstroke! My heart goes out to all the businesses who will suffer because of this, why fight your way into Norwich when you can shop on the net? Expect more empty shops!
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Harry Rabinowitz
Thursday, March 21, 2013
I am frankly amazed that so few people (3) can push through changes that so many people don't appear to want! This idea will do nothing to attract people into the city to shop. Despite the green lobby's bullying tactics to persuade everyone onto public transport it hasn't worked so far and this latest attempt won't either. Not everyone wants or can afford the time to travel into Norwich from rural areas, use the park and ride and struggle to get shopping on and off buses. As others have said the principal benefits to these changes will be the shops on the periphery of Norwich or the internet retailers!
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Douglas McCoy
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Wonderful move and long overdue. City centres thrived before cars became king, reducing the noise, pollution and hazards cars produce the city centre will begin to thrive again.
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expat
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Who needs the buses and the shops, with online shopping much cheaper no need to park or pay the highly rate bus charges. If it not for the free bus passes who use the buses anyway. In a time when shops going to the wall and shop workers loosing there jobs this will at least help to hurry the process of more shops closing. The council have proven they are anti car and I do not see why I should go out of my way to a park and ride. Out of town shopping or the internet is much better. More great ideas from out council, carry on I support you.
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Cepnch
Thursday, March 21, 2013
"Norwich park-and-ride users face higher fares and fewer buses as part of cuts package" Feb 2011 http:www.edp24.co.uknewspoliticsnorwich_park_and_ride_users_face_higher_fares_and_fewer_buses_as_part_of_cuts_package_1_794213
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Anonymous
Thursday, March 21, 2013
When there's static traffic in St Stephens it's usually got a bus stopped in the middle of the road discharging pasengers at the front of it. Buses should be made to pull in and stop causing a deliberate obstruction. If a car does it, the bus drivers aren't slow at sitting on the horn.
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Andy T
Thursday, March 21, 2013
well said parkeg1 and MIKE. I hosted a group of former busdrivers from the NW recently and they couldn't believe the situation on Castle Meadow, especially as we'd shown them a deserted bus staion! When I told them about St Stephens !!! obviously the planners are going for the worlds biggest bus station. It would help if we had a reliable bus company (remember corporations?) here's me shopping out of town (whilst th town exists) Stuart, I like your comment, as well - sounds just like the EU.
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biglingers
Thursday, March 21, 2013
This the fastest growing city in the land but managed by a bunch of idiots, this is not needed it will close areas of Norwich down and finish them off. If the buses were managed better maybe there wouldn't be so much hold up. Very few cars drive down St Stephens as it's usually blocked up by buses.
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parkeg1
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Great more traffic forced onto other roads causing more gridlock turning the centre of Norwich into a bus station
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MIKE
Thursday, March 21, 2013
This is mostly an excellent idea. Far from discouraging people, I think it encourages more footfall. It works in Cities like Nottingham. There does however need to be plenty of parking spaces away from the pedestrianised areas, and good public transport too. My only concern is that Westlegate will become clogged very easily.
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Abraham
Thursday, March 21, 2013
It will allow those mad bus drivers to go faster now! look out pedestrians.
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Marigold
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Frank - it's not about people being lazy, it's about congestion and pollution. The traffic that now uses St Stephens, Red Lion Farmers, Westlegate and Theatre streets will be moved to All Saints Green, Ber St, Rouen Rd and the inner ring road. These roads will go slower, with more vehicles sitting and belching out pollution, affecting residents and anyone who's walking past. Instead of looking at an integrated policy to move traffic quickly past the city centre, it's been a knee-jerk reaction in the city council's continual war against vehicles. If they'd worked with the bus companies to make public transport much more affordable, they'd had achieved a reduction in vehicle use without moving the pollution to a different area.
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Stuart
Thursday, March 21, 2013
This is good news for the people of Norwich. Cars, often with only one person in, have clogged up our shared spaces for too long. Rude, selfish and lazy drivers have dominated this peaceful medieval city. The strategy is to encourage drivers to go to one of the six park and rides. Its not rocket science.
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oldowl
Thursday, March 21, 2013
this is a great idea and about time too. how many drivers who go through the cty centre park and shop in the city centre ?
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DAVE
Thursday, March 21, 2013
I still think it would be much better to abolish the one way system and allow parking along all streets. It seemed to work in the 1950s. Actually, having recently been to Plymouth and often driving in Coventry the biggest problem we have is insufficient damage during WW2 to force a proper redevelopment of the city centre with a traffic distribution system. You cannot have easy access and a medieval road layout. The Inner ring road should have been built with flyovers and tunnels - and, er completed. Then large car parks built around inner core and wide boulevards created for people. Suggest we start by demolishing Bell Hotel - it creates a bottle neck on the main through route of the city.
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RichardS
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Well that settles it for me ! I won't be shopping in Norwich ever again! I shop in places where I can park for free now anyway, when will 'they' ever see the light? My guess never !!
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Stop Press
Thursday, March 21, 2013
What a joke, Norwich is practically immposible to drive in as it, with sneaky cameras, confusing parkings zones and of course the councils green parking wardens that will drive to the outskirts of the city to ticket cars that are'nt causing a problem in the center, dangerous road systems that have taken one life since it was opened. What are they planning? a total city deadlock so they can ticket anything not moving, or perhaps a long overdue cull.
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clive hill
Thursday, March 21, 2013
All it means for most of you is you'll have to sit in your car for an extra five minutes to get to your car park of choice, anyone would think you're being asked to yomp over hill and dale to get to the shops. The only people who object to this are those who have forgotten what their cardiovascular system, legs arms and feet are actually for, the complacency and downright laziness of many motorists is precisely why we're in this state in the first place!
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frank young
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Elections concentrate the minds wonderfully.Long time coming.
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Peter Watson
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Another nail in the coffin of "city centre" shopping!
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Anonymous
Thursday, March 21, 2013
I bet that Steward has had a hand in this !.
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"V"
Thursday, March 21, 2013
This is an excellent idea, the closure of St Stephens is long overdue. The only impact on the city centre will be a good one, people don't shop when they're passing through and this will make no difference to drivers heading to car parks. It will also encourage drivers who don't need to go through the centre to stay away and use the ring roads as they should. And ReapnSow - it really would be a very good idea to pedestrianise the whole centre except as needed for peripheral car park access.
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Only Me
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Well that is just so typical of our Council. So the economy is down on it's knees and you want to curb the traffic which effectively "pumps" consumers in to Norwich. What planet are our council members living on? Why can't they actually employ people who know what an economy needs. Lets just make the whole centre pedestrianised and make the whole place a ghost town. Then when all the shops have closed the council members will be looking for alternative sources to fund their extortionate, excessive salaries to do a job they don't appear to be trained to do. Thanks Norwich. Another nail in the coffin.
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ReapnSow
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Democracy in action in Norwich: the council presents proposals, the public objects, the council ignores the public and goes ahead anyway. When even the council's own officers seek alternatives (such as splitting the vote) they're railroaded. Echoes of the N25.
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Stuart
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Terrible news and Im frankly amazed this got funding. This wont fix a thing, just move the problem elsewhere. There is no master strategy, the council luches from one change to the next with no end goal. What a complete waste of money.
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Crazy
Thursday, March 21, 2013